Japanese Maple Birthday Cake

The World’s only Japanese maple Birthday Cake!

Believe it or not, the Japanese maple in this photo is a birthday cake!

Japanese Maple Birthday Cake

Many of our customers know Taylor. She is our customer service specialist and handles all of our incoming Email. Taylor is warm and friendly, extremely helpful. People really, really like and appreciate Taylor. But nobody appreciates her as much as I do. She does a great job and makes my life so much easier.

But what most people don’t know, and I just recently discovered, Taylor is extremely talented and makes some awesome birthday cakes. She wanted to stop by on my Birthday and she showed up with this incredible Birthday cake that looks just like a Japanese maple! Yes, the leaves and the pot are edible! The cake is inside the pot!

I know many of you are going to ask a bunch of questions about how she does this and what she uses, and I’ll let her explain it. She explained it to me, but all I remember was how good the cake was. Oh yeah, I did eat a leaf or two as well!

So there you have it, a Japanese maple birthday cake. Fire off the questions and I’ll let Taylor take it from here.

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Comments

That is incredibly creative – would love to know what the trunk., leaves, & limbs are made of – & the pot as well. the dirt in the pot has got to be chocolate (only because I am a devout dark chocolate lover)!

Thanks for all of the wonderful compliments on the cake. It really was fun to make, and a very special gift for the best boss ever!

The recipe is the easy part, let me just say. It takes a lot of time and patience to make a cake like this.

I am going to write out the instructions as simply as I can; it is definitely going to be in depth, though, as that is the only way to explain it!

If anyone has more questions, just let me know!

I will start from the beginning…

The cake I made was just plain white cake. There were lots of kids at the party, so that is the least messy choice.
I doctored up a boxed cake mix so I could get the moistness of a boxed cake, but the flavor and firm texture of a from scratch cake.

Cake Recipe:

2 boxes white cake (You can use any flavor, except marbled. The texture is not firm enough.)
6 eggs
4 Tbs vegetable oil
2 2/3 cups water
2 cups sour cream (You can’t taste this in the cake, I promise. It just adds a bit of firmness.)
1 Tbs vanilla extract
2 small packages dry pudding mix (I used vanilla, but you can use any flavor. Instant or cook and serve.)
2 packets of dream whip (this is a powder found near the pudding and gelatin that is used to make whipped cream.)

I use this cake recipe quite a bit, whenever I make a carved cake. If you won’t be carving a cake and would like it lighter
and fluffier, just leave out the sour cream. You can cut the recipe in half, if you would like to make a smaller cake.
I baked a 5 in, 6 in, 7 in, and 8 in. round cake to stack and carve for the pot shape. Another option is to purchase a
terra cotta pot to bake the cake in. You will need to wash it and bake it on high heat for a couple of hours to make it food safe,
and line it with foil, though. There are instructions in multiple places online. I thought of this a little too late!

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine all of the ingredients together in a large bowl in the order listed. This is important because the better will be very stiff
and it will be hard to mix in the remaining ingredients if you do too many dry ingredients first.

Grease the bottom of your baking pan(s) with shortening and flour them to prevent the cake from sticking. Most people grease the sides of
the pan as well, but I don’t as it helps the cake bake flatter and straighter.

Bang the pan full of batter on the counter about 20 times to get air bubbles to come out of the batter. That will help make the cake firmer and
a bit less fluffy, which is important for carving.

I can’t really say how long you will need to bake the cakes. It depends on the size. With all of the added ingredients, it takes longer than
a regular boxed cake. The 5 in took about 20 minutes, and the 8 in probably took 35 minutes. The others were somewhere in between.

Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then drag a butterknife against the edge of the pan to loosen the cake. Flip onto a board or tray.

After completely cooled, I would suggest wrapping the cakes in plastic wrap, then foil. You can freeze them that way, as well, if you would like.

The icing is recipe that I use as a base for all icings. It is a crusting buttercream that is perfect for every cake, including wedding cakes.
It gets messy, so have a clean, damp kitchen towel on hand unless you would like a fine white dust to coat you and your kitchen.If you don’t have almond
extract, don’t worry about it. I’ve made it without plenty of times. It just cuts the sweetness a little bit.

Using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, blend the shortening and butter together until creamy. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix thoroughly.
If you have a sifter, sift the powdered sugar. It prevents any little lumps in the icing. Mix the powdered sugar into the butter/shortening mixture slowly, on low.
I usually scoop it in 1 cup at a time, stopping to scrape the edges of the bowl between each addition. You will want to put the damp towel over the bowl while mixing
the sugar in, if you can, to prevent dust clouds! You do NOT want to make this recipe by hand. It gets very thick by the time all of the sugar is added,
like bread dough almost. Once all of the sugar is added, mix the milk in one Tablespoon at a time until you get to the desired consistency.
For a carved or tall stacked cake like this one, you want it a bit thicker so it can support the weight of the cakes on top. For regular cakes,
add a bit more milk to get a softer, fluffier icing. Keep the icing covered with a lid, plastic wrap, or damp towel to prevent it from drying out. If it crusts
and you mix it back up, you may get little grainy chunks throughout the batch.

Cut each cake in half lengthwise, to make it into two layers. Put a thick layer of icing on the bottom cake, then put the top layer back on. Do that for all of the cakes.
Each cake should be placed on a cake board slightly smaller than the cake layer itself. You can buy cake board, or cut them out of cardboard and cover them in foil or plastic wrap.
Put a dollop, glob, or whatever you prefer to call it, of icing in the center of each board so the cake will stick. Stick a dowel or skewer into the cake to measure the depth, then
cut the dowel to that length. Cut two more to the same height, then stick them into the cake in a triangle shape about an inch in from the edge of the cake.
These will provide support for the cake above, so the cakes underneath do not get smashed and deformed. Put thick layers of icing between each cake so they stick together and then
stack the cakes from smallest to largest, with the smallest on the bottom.

Looking at a plant pot or a picture of one, use a bread knife or other serrated knife to carve the cake into the correct shape. Use short, back and forth cuts to prevent crumbling.
Cut very small amounts off at a time. You can always take more cake, but you can’t put it back on very successfully.
Once you have the shape you want, cover the whole cake in a thin layer of icing to seal in all of the crumbs. If the icing is too thick and is just pulling crumbs from the cake
instead of sticking, you can still go back and add in a little milk to thin it out a bit.

To make the pot look like a real pot, I used fondant. Fondant is not easy to work with. It feels kind of like play-doh, kind of. If you have never used fondant before, a carved cake
is probably not the best thing for you to cover on your first attempt. Another option is to just use buttercream icing tinted to the right color, and smooth it as best as possible.
I do not make my own fondant anymore, but you can find many recipes online. There are multiple brands you can get. Wilton is sold at Walmart and Michaels, it is easy
to work with, and it tastes horrible. Fondarific is my very favorite, it tates delicious and is easy to work with, but it doesn’t stiffen up as well as the rim of a plant pot should.
Satin Ice is popular. It stiffens better than Fondarific, but doesn’t taste as good. I combined Fondarific and Satin Ice for this cake, then used orange, brown and terra cotta icing
colors (gel icing colors…don’t use liquid), to get the color. Just orange and brown work just as well, if not better, than the terra cotta color.

Knead the colored gel into the fondant a little at a time, until the color is slighlty lighter than what yo uare looking for. Then roll it out on a surface covered in either shortening
or powdered sugar. If the fondant feels dry, use shortening. If it feels sticky, use powdered sugar.

Once it is all colored and rolled flat, you will lay it over the cake and smooth the top and sides as much as possible, and trim excess fondant away.

Gumpaste is sold at Walmart, Michaels, cake stores, online, etc. It is like fondant, except stickier, and it dries rock hard. It is used to make wedding cake flowers a lot of times.
You will need to cover the surface you are working on and your hands with a lot ofshortening. Then using a rolling pin, roll the gumpaste very thin. Like 1/16 in thick. Use the cutter
to cut out the leaves. I wouldn’t recommend cutting the shapes by hand, as the gumpaste dries too quickly. Dip a three in piece of 26 gauge floral wire into the egg white, then insert it into
the stem area of each leaf immediately. Sqish it a little to secure the wire. To get the leaf veins, thinned edges, etc., I used different gumpaste tools.
You could probably improvise with different kitchen tools. Shape them how you would like, then lay them to dry on slightly crumpled foil. That will help them look more like real leafs,
as they will be more curved. Paint the colored dust onto the leaves in different combinations to get a natural look. I then steam them to secure the powder, by holding them 6 inches above
a pot of boiling water for three seconds each. You hold them by the wire, so you don’t get burned. Wrap the wire of each leaf with white floral tape. I cut the floral tape into thinner strips,
since the wires are so thin. Twist some leaves together in bunches of 2 and 3, randomly, like a real tree. I made thirty leaves, left three single, and put the rest in bunches of two or three.

Take the single leaves and bunches of leaves and twist them each onto their own full length piece of 20 gauge wire. Wrap the 20 gauge wire with white floral tape. Take all of the large wires
and twist them together, placing the leaves at different heights to give the appearance of a tree or seedling. Wrap with white wire as you go to secure.

To assemble the whole cake:

I purchased a terra cotta base that the pots go on to use as my base. I placed the cake on that, on top of a small cake board, after I covered it in fondant. When you have the cake placed on whatever
you will be serving it on, you are ready to put the “tree” in. Make sure the wires are twisted together very well at the bottom and wrap foil around the bottom 6 inches or so.
Take a knife, skewer, or something sharp that can touch food, and stick it into the center of the cake all the way down to the bottom. I used a sharpened wooden dowel and tapped it in with a hammer,
to make a whole to stick the tree into. The wire is not strong enough to break through the cardboard cake circles.

Melt the chocolate or candy and pour it into the hole in the cake. Do this only after you make sure the tree can go in all the way. Then stick the tree into the cake and hold it steady for a minute,
until the chocolate dries. It will secure the tree and prevent it from falling over or pulling out of the cake during transport.

Crush the cookies to make dirt, and put them on top of the cake. I spread a little more of the melted chocolate over the top of the cake first, to help it stick.

I think that is everything…if I forgot to explain anything, just let me know.
You can email me, as well.
If anyone decides to make one of these, please send me a picture!

I’m with Blair I would love to have the full recipe with illustrations would be nice. I am getting married in February of 2013 and am planting a Japanes Maple in my yard to commemorate my fiance moving in this spring, so this would be the perfect ccake for our wedding.

Hre is another tip. The recipes that contain garlic are useless if the mixture is boiled or canned. The time to add garlic is late in the process before it is subjected to high heat because garlic is very volatile and is soon gone completely. I get a big kisk out of these canned Spaghetti recipes that claim to have garlic flavor. They have nothing of th kind!

You can come get all the maple trees you want from my yard. They are a nuisance to me. All the helicopters all over the yard. I have three big trees that produce hundreds of little saplings. Come get all you want. While you are at it cut down the big trees. I want Plum, Cherry, English Walnuts, Almond and even Pecan trees. Anything but Maples. I haven’t figured out yet how to eat a Maple tree. Give us some information about propagating Blueberries and other fruit plants. Anything but Maples!

I feel like you do, but my nemisis is chestnut trees. I think it’s catkins in June absolutely STINK!!!
There is a big one in my yard, and since we rent the place, there is not too much I can do about it except pray for a good wind.

this cake was made with loving hearts!
i can tell /for the only time a throw a meal after tasting it ,was when i wasn’t happy
cooking !

because you’re Irish,i’ll tell you how to be happy all your life;because as a bishop in Lebanon said one day:
the house that doesn’t sanctify the holy word of our Lord Jesus,they are not humans!!!confess and consacrate your house to the sacred heart/there and only there it will be called home,keep chaste till marriage,and will see no fog all your life,but a clear sky only-trust me, i’ve seen a lot..a lot…
i know what i’m talking about!

Thanks so much! Nope, no business or Food Network for me. I am a pretty busy person at the moment; probably every other cake I make is done solely at night while my children and customers are sleeping! I really enjoy making cakes for my family and friends, so I’m good with that for the time being! 🙂

Sure love to have the full recipe, where I could make on for your local Garden Club, we meet the first Tuesday night each month. That would nice to have for Febuary, we always have a meal before the meeting, I am helping meat and dessert. Please share if possible.

Yes, it did take a bit of time. It was definitely worth it, though! I am still not sure what Mike thought when I walked in with it…Something along the lines of “Where did she get this tree in the middle of winter?” or “Why in the world did she buy me a fake plant?”

Hi Taylor, Having been a cake decorator in my lifetime…. I love your very apropos design. What a perfect and “fun” cake for Mike. I’m sure that you had fun designing and making it.
I love Mike’s helpful garden videos….and I know that he was super surprised and impressed. Isn’t it fun to put happy smiles on people’s faces with your creative talents? Happy Birthday Mike!

Happy Birthday to Mike! What a fantastic cake, Taylor! I’m guessing the “mulch” is chocolate and the leaves and flowerpot are white chocolate with coloring, and the tree trunk might be a wire armature. To be authentic I’d guess the cake is dark chocolate, maybe with roots made of white coconut shreds(?) How did Taylor bake the cake shape and the dish underneath it?
Great work, Taylor!!

Thanks! The mulch/dirt is crushed oreo cookies, the leaves are gumpaste, the pot is fondant covered, and the cake is white. I was thinking Mike’s furniture being protected from chocolate-colored toddler fingers was more important at the time, but now I’m thinking authentic looks inside would have been cool!

I carved the cake out of four round cakes, and the dish underneath is a real dish, which doubled as my cake plate.

What a exquisit and unique cake. I’m sure,Mike really appreciated such nice gesture.
Since you are ‘in charge’ of all incoming emails, I would like to mention, how much I enjoy receiving Mike’ mails. At the same time, I wanted to let him know, that I am physically unable to raise maples, besides, we are not allowed to do backyard growing for commerical purposes. On top, even if, my garden is way to small, to even put a veggie garden in. I hope, Mike will not be too upset, I still LOVE to get his mails.’Thank you, Christa.
One more thing….
Please wish him a belated HAPPY Birthday for me and many happy returns. Also tell him, I am old enough to be his mother.

The leaves are gumpaste, which is what many wedding cake flowers are made from, the stems are wire covered in fondant and colored dust, and the cake is carved into the shape of a pot and covered in fondant. If you didn’t know, fondant is a thick icing, which has a clay like consistency. You roll it out and cover things with it.

Mike that was a very special Birthday Cake for you. She was so sweet to take the time to bake this for you and I hope you got lots of pictures. We all love you Mike you have been helpful to so many of us. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE> The cake was quite unique and very real looking…….. Barbara Bomprezzi

I posted the recipe above. I used four round pans 5 in, 6 in, 7 in, and 8 in. You could use any size pans, you just might have to waste a bit more cake that way. I have also heard you can back in a terra cotta pot that has been cleaned. You could look into that.

Love it! My daughter is a Cake maker and she’s shown me how you do all of this with fondant. It’s amazing what can be created. I’m a huge fan of Buddy Vallastro, Cake Boss and this looks just as good as one of his cakes! I can watch ya’ll do this and still wonder how you do it. I made her 1st birthday cake with a sheet cake and lattice work and 1 tier and she was off and running! LOL Great job!

Taylor, that is a terrific-looking cake. You are clearly a very talented young lady. I’m truly impressed by the branches and leaves. That’s so pretty I’d really hate to have to eat it, but if it’s *half* as good as it looks, I’m sure it was amazing.

Happy Birthday Mike I hope you had a wonderfu day.
Taylor I also would like to know the details of your cake if you are willing to share.
It looks unique not the normal Birthday cake which I am a big fan of different.
Mike I enjoy your emails and am getting my place set up so I can order the Japanese Maples. Are these the tree or bush variety???

Happy to know about the cake and recipe posted by Tylor.It is very interesting.Mike, thank you for your tips. Let me wish you happy birth day!. I thought you are elder than me,but it is not the case. I am over 62 now and will reach 63 on July next!. In our place ,India climate is far different from your place and actions may differ. Any way I will try your tips. I am trying to inform my friends about you and your projects.

Happy Belated Birthday Mike Let me just say what a beautiful way to spend a 50+ Birthday with your Family and of course the most talented cake maker Taylor for sure. So cute and so appropriate who wouldnt love a cake like that. Well let me tell you i just cant wait for Spring to arrive and on Mon the 30th of Jan I am off to Sarasota Fla for 2 to 3 months. If Spring proves to be real warm In Fenton Mi i will be back sooner. This year i so want to buy all the different Maples and plant a beautiful and very different Maple tree garden per se as I love them dearly.Also i am going to try to start with the small starter plants and try to sell them but one day at a time Mike as i enjoy your videos and all the super great emails. I love love love gardening so very much. Thanks so much that i found your site. Fondly Sally

Thanks, Mike,
for understanding and
thanks, Taylor,
for such an indept description of the process, baking this cake..
I will save the ‘recipe’ and will give it a try later this summer, when I promised my 11 year old grandson to teach him how to cook. We have worked on the ‘gardening part’ for a few years now, but then I got sick (open heart- and breast cancer surgery), from which I am slowly trying to recover. Grandchildren are a gift from God and teaching them your experiences is most rewarding. I’ll be looking forward to future emails from you, Mike,
and maybe some occasional little ‘tidbits’ from you, Taylor.
You both have a great day.
Christa

Mike,
Happy Birthday and hope u have many more and taylor you did a great job on making the cake. like some of the other people said it is nice having a good bunch of people around that care about you.
Greg